• Independent La Jolla will host a presentation at the La Jolla Library, located at 7555 Draper Ave., on Wednesday, Oct. 17 at 5:30 p.m. for community members to hear testimony from Michael Ott, executive officer of the Local Agency Formation Commission, and Coronado Mayor Casey Tanaka.

“This is a wonderful opportunity to ask these two people questions and it really brings home the reality of how it is not that difficult to form our own city,” said Melinda Merryweather, founding board member of Independent La Jolla.

• La Jolla Shores Association (LJSA) member Tim Lucas announced the advisory group has two vacancies for anyone interested in helping advise the city on issues related to parks in the La Jolla Shores area.

• The La Jolla Executive Roundtable will host a District 1 City Council candidate debate between incumbent Sherri Lightner and challenger Ray Ellis on Wednesday, Oct. 10 at 7 p.m. at the La Jolla Recreation Center, located at 615 Prospect St.

• The San Diego Planning Commission upheld the LJCPA’s appeal of the year-round rope barrier at Children’s Pool beach.

• The project manager on the Children’s Pool lifeguard tower project is seeking a seal-disturbance permit to proceed with demolition of the existing, condemned tower before the start of seal-pupping season on Dec. 15. Construction on the new lifeguard tower will begin next summer. The La Jolla Cove lifeguard tower is scheduled to begin next year as well.

CITY NEWS

• Mayor Jerry Sanders recently announced the city will restore funds in the city budget for tree trimming, specifically for palm trees in public right of ways.

• District 1 City Councilwoman Sherri Lighter’s office has partnered with Urban Corps to help fund a cleanup effort of major roads, including graffiti removal and weeding, throughout the district. The funds were sourced from savings in the councilwoman’s office.

“Hopefully, all the main roads will be looking a lot better in the next month or so,” said the councilwoman’s representative Erin Demorest.

SCHOOL NEWS

• John Lee Evans, president of the San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) Board of Education, explained the school board’s “Vision 2020” plan, which focuses on putting a quality school in every neighborhood.

“The district is so huge, and we have half of our students going to school somewhere else in the district,” he said. “We’re really looking to get back to having a quality school in every neighborhood.”

Evans said test scores in English, social studies and science have risen over the last four years,

“This is what our reform efforts are geared around,” he said. “We’ve seen the results over the past four years. We’re on the right track.”

He also urged community members to support the education measures on the November ballot.

“We’ve been able to make progress, but we would really be able to soar if everyone gets behind public schools like I know so many people are here in La Jolla,” he said.

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

• Trustees motioned to appeal the hearing officer’s decision to approve a project at 7755 Sierra Mar. The project was modified to incorporate a neighbor’s concerns after it was presented to the LJCPA; however, trustees did not know the extent of the modification.

“This is a project that the CPA has denied in the past and [the applicants] didn’t choose to resubmit their plans to us for reconsideration. I feel we should stand on our previous decision,” said trustee Dan Courtney. “I don’t think we should reward a group for bypassing the community.”

• LJCPA president Tony Crisafi and trustee Phil Merten asked city representatives why the city did not enforce a San Diego Municipal Code (SDMC) provision that limits the height of swimming pools in street yards, citing a case at 1223 Muirlands Vista Way of an over-height swimming pool in violation of the code.

“[The city] responded with an email that essentially said that the code protection did not apply to this particular swimming pool because the swimming pool was not an encroachment,” said Merten. “When, in fact, the SDMC lists 11 different encroachments, one of which happens to be swimming pools in street yards.”

In August, Crisafi submitted a letter to the city requesting clarification on five points, which would seemingly subject the swimming pool on Muirlands Vista Way to the SDMC. The city has yet to respond.

• Despite some neighbors’ concern about a pop-up light monitor and the proximity of the proposed development to its east side-yard property line, LJCPA trustees voted 8-5-2 that the findings could be made for a coastal development permit and site development permit for a 4,920-square-foot home to be built at 2351 Vallecitos St.

Community names priorities in CIP budget

For the first time, the city has invited the public to provide input on priorities in its Capital Improvement Program budget, which funds such construction projects as libraries, fire stations, sidewalks, roadways, sewage systems and other physical-infrastructure work.

“We are trying to create a lot of excitement and create a new and exciting process for the public,” said La Jolla Community Planning Association vice president and Community Planners Committee chair Joe LaCava, who is heading up the effort. “The caveat is that the city doesn’t have any money to spend — the city only has about $3 million extra to spend citywide.”

Despite the city’s limited funds, LaCava stresses the importance of coming up with a workable process for public participation this year to garner meaningful input on neighborhood priorities in years to come.

“This is important because this is a great opportunity for us to figure out how to do it this year, so that next year when the city does have more money, more bond capacity, the economy is better [and] we have more revenue, we will be smarter and faster and more informed of how to do this,” he said.

Public input is being gathered at all 42 planning groups citywide, including the LJCPA, which collected input on neighborhood priorities at its Oct. 4 meeting.

A few of the preliminary recommendations named at the meeting included: